One attempt might set the id value in the box, but not the "display" value
One attempt might set the "id, display" value
One attempt sets the text, but when submitted does not translate the id

What I've read indicates that if the store is set to autoload ( which it is ), that if the value is set ( ie, id of 27 ) the display should automatically be set to the equivalent text for that record, but it is not...

As you can see by the lines that are commented out I've tried a number of different combinations with no luck.